Breda-SAFAT machine gun

Breda - Mod. SAFAT

Company type	Division
Industry	Firearms, Aircraft armament
Predecessor	SAFAT (division of FIAT)
Founded	1920s
Founder	Giuseppe Mascarucci
Fate	SAFAT closed; patents transferred to Breda
Headquarters	Italy
Products	Aircraft machine guns (7.7 mm and 12.7 mm calibers)

The Breda - Mod. SAFAT cal. 7,7 and Breda - Mod. SAFAT cal. 12,7 were Italian aircraft machine guns engineered by Giuseppe Mascarucci for use by the Regia Aeronautica. These firearms were chambered for the standard calibers employed by Italian air forces: 7.7 millimetres (0.30 in) and 12.7 millimetres (0.50 in), respectively. The ammunition types included ball and tracer rounds for the 7.7 mm variant, while the 12.7 mm model utilized high explosive incendiary tracer (HEI-T) rounds containing 0.8 grams of PETN, as well as armour-piercing (AP) ammunition.

Design and development

In the late 1920s, both Breda and SAFAT, a division of FIAT, were commissioned to create designs for a new lightweight machine gun intended for use in aircraft operated by the Regia Aeronautica. Among the proposals, SAFAT's submission, known as the FIAT mod.1928 Avio cal. 7,7, was ultimately favored. However, during the same period, FIAT lost the competition to supply the light machine gun for the Italian Army, leading to SAFAT's closure and the transfer of its patents to Breda.

Following SAFAT's shutdown and the acquisition of its patents, Breda—despite not winning the aeronautical machine gun contest—became the manufacturer of its former rival’s design.

Consequently, the weapon originally designated as Mitragliatrice FIAT Mod.1928 Avio cal. 7,7 was renamed to Mitragliatrice Breda - Mod. SAFAT cal. 7,7 (Breda Machine Gun - SAFAT Model, caliber 7.7 mm). Throughout its production run, several enhancements were introduced, resulting in four distinct sub-variants of the 7.7 mm caliber model.

Starting around 1931-1932, the Regia Aeronautica requested a heavy machine gun variant. Breda responded by scaling up their previous 7.7 mm design to chamber a larger 12.7x81mmSR cartridge.

Although intended to match or exceed comparable airborne machine guns, this weapon suffered from notably reduced muzzle velocity due to its use of cartridges with limited propellant capacity. Additional drawbacks included excessive weight, relatively low firing rates, and poor performance of the High Explosive-Incendiary-Tracer ammunition.

Nevertheless, Italian pilots and armourers generally held the Breda-SAFAT gun in high regard: pilots appreciated its extended range and seemingly effective hitting power, while armourers valued its dependable functioning.

Italy thus lacked machine guns combining essential attributes such as lightness, high rate of fire, substantial muzzle velocity, sufficient projectile mass, and reliability—qualities found in contemporary foreign designs like the Soviet Berezin UB, German MG 131, American Browning M2, and Japanese Ho-103 all chambered in 12.7 mm caliber. Toward the later stages of World War II, Italian aircraft began incorporating the original German Mauser 20 mm (0.79 in) MG 151 cannon to achieve firepower on par with Allied fighters; some models such as the Macchi MC.205, Fiat G.55, and Reggiane Re.2005 mounted up to three MG 151 cannons—the third firing through the propeller hub of their license-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 inline inverted V12 engines (Fiat Tifone)—in addition to synchronized cowl-mounted 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT guns.

While suitable at their inception in the early 1930s, Breda machine guns were surpassed by 1940 standards; Italian fighters including the Fiat C.R.42, Fiat G.50 Freccia, Macchi MC.200, Macchi MC.202, and Reggiane Re.2000 typically carried only two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT guns and occasionally two extra 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT weapons. Despite their limitations, thousands of these guns were produced throughout the 1930s and 1940s, equipping nearly all Italian fighters and bombers of that era. Many units were also adapted for anti-aircraft roles and remained in reserve service until the 1970s—even though all aircraft using them had been retired by then.

Applications

File:Breda safat of fiat rs14.jpg

7.7mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted in the waist gunner stations of a FIAT R.S.14

Fighter Aircraft

• Fiat CR.32
• Fiat CR.42
• Fiat G.50 Freccia
• Fiat G.55
• Fiat G.59
• Macchi C.200
• Macchi C.202
• Macchi C.205
• Reggiane Re.2000
• Reggiane Re.2002
• Reggiane Re.2005

Bomber Aircraft

• Caproni Ca.133
• Caproni Ca.309
• Caproni Ca.310
• Fiat BR.20
• Piaggio P.108
• Savoia-Marchetti SM.79

Ground-Attack Aircraft

• Breda Ba.64
• Breda Ba.65
• Breda Ba.88 Lince
• CANSA FC.20

References

• Ministero dell'Aeronautica (1940). Istruzione sulle Mitragliatrici Breda Av. (Mod.SAFAT) Cal. 7,7 e 12,7. Milano.
• Giardini, Walter (1941). L'armamento aereo. Firenze: Scuola di Applicazione R.Aeronautica.
• Mascarucci, Giuseppe (1929). Automatic firearm with recoiling barrel and without movable breech-US1733231A. United States Patent Office.
• Mascarucci, Giuseppe (1930). Device for feeding cartridges and for cocking the striker in automatic firearms-US1783577A. United States Patent Office.
• Lomazzi, Piero (1990). "Armi in caccia". AeroFan Magazine, issues 55–56.
• Curami, Andrea; Ferrari, Paolo; Rastelli, Achille (2009). Alle origini della Breda Meccanica Bresciana. Brescia.
• Cappellano, Filippo (2015). L'artiglieria controaerei italiana sino al 1943. Parma.
• Pignato, Nicola; Cappellano, Filippo (2008). Le armi della fanteria italiana (1919-1945). Parma.
• Colombano, Pietro (1978). "Mitragliatrici Fiat (1920-1940)". TAC Armi Magazine, issue 3.
• Gustavsson, Håkan; Slongo, Ludvico (2012). Gladiator vs Cr.42 Falco : 1940–41. .
• Williams, Anthony G.; Gustin, Dr. Emmanuel (2003-02-01). Flying Guns of World War II. Ramsbury: Airlife. ISBN 978-1-84037-227-4.

External links

File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Image on Italian Wikipedia showing a SAFAT machine gun in a ground combat role